Against the Algorithm

Chapter 64: Before the Game Began

Her eyes widened when she saw him, panic flashing across her face as she wiped at her cheeks in a frantic attempt to look composed. She sat up straighter, too quickly, the motion jerky. Her voice, when she spoke, was thick and wobbly. "I'm—sorry, I was just—I didn't mean to—"

"What happened, Yao-Yao?" Kazime's tone cut through the room like steel wrapped in velvet. Not unkind. But very, very focused.

Yao blinked fast. "N-nothing, I'm—"

Tong Yao?" Kaya said sharply from across the room.

That did it.

The girl froze.

Then slowly, like unraveling a knot she didn't want anyone to see, she whispered, "It's stupid..."

"Not to us," Kazime said, stepping closer. "Talk."

Yao shrank a little, hands twisting in her sleeves, braid slipping off her shoulder as her head ducked. "I just... I played a couple matches earlier. Ranked scrims. Ai Jia joined one of the queues. And... Jian Yang too. I didn't know they were both in it."

Kaya's brow twitched. "Jinyang's boyfriend and his friend?"

Yao nodded, then buried her face in her hands again, voice muffled. "I beat them."

Kazime blinked. "You beat them. And... that's what made you upset?"

Her head shook quickly. "N-not because I beat them. They... they started typing afterward. In chat. Not like teasing, just..." Her shoulders curled tighter. "They said I was only winning because the server carried me. Called me an attention-chaser. Said I must be one of those girls trying to get picked up by a team. Jian Yang called me... called me a fluke."

Kaya's eyes narrowed. "They said that to you?"

Yao's voice cracked. "And Ai Jia didn't stop him. He just laughed and said, 'Guess even rabbits get lucky sometimes.'"

She winced, visibly ashamed, and whispered, "It's not even the worst thing anyone's said. I just—I thought they wouldn't be like that..."

Kazime's face had gone still.

Completely still.

Not the icy, disinterested stillness he gave to rivals in board meetings.

No.

This was something colder. Older.

Kaya set her tablet down on the table with a muted click. "And Jinyang?"

Yao looked up, eyes shimmering but her voice small and resolute. "I'm not telling her. I don't want to put her in that position."

Kaya inhaled slowly.

Kazime crossed the room and crouched in front of Yao's chair, leveling himself with her height. "Look at me." She did. Barely. But it was enough. "Nothing about what they said was acceptable," he said calmly. "And none of it was your fault." Her chin trembled. He continued, voice sharp but not unkind. "You didn't get lucky. You're not a fluke. And if either of those boys had half the discipline you do, they'd be grateful to be taken apart by someone better."

Yao made a wounded sound in the back of her throat, and Kaya, finally moving, stepped forward. Her hand reached down and gently carded through the back of Yao's hair, smoothing it like she would a child's, something she'd never done before.